The film “Drive My Car” deals with being honest with yourself emotionally.
The film premiered at Keene Putnam Theater Feb. 10-13.
The film tackles emotional stability with the protagonist and theater actor, Yūsuke, and the death of his wife while directing a theater play.
A long film at almost 3 hours, it’s a slow-burn and, after a while, hooks you onto the narrative of the film.
The first half hour of the film establishes who Yūsuke is, the relationship he has with his wife, Oto, and how they live. Yūsuke is a theater actor and Oto is a television screenwriter in Tokyo, Japan. After a flight delay, Yūsuke comes back to the house to wait for another flight, only to catch Oto with another man. This moment impacts Yūsuke for the rest of the movie.
After a long day of driving and Oto wanting to talk to Yūsuke, he comes home to find Oto dead on the floor of their apartment. Yūsuke performs his last play and breaks down bawling at the end of the play. He is quiet at Oto’s funeral service.
Two years later, when the rest of the story takes place, it deals with the ramifications on Yūsuke emotionally, as a widower. He took a job in Hiroshima as a director of a play called “Uncle Vanya.” This is the last play Yūsuke performed two years ago. While working at this theater, as policy, Yūsuke gets a driver for his stay and drives his car. So far, we see Yūsuke territorial about his car and driving, but he allows the driver, Misaki, to do her job.
For the majority of the film, we see rehearsals for the play. One of the issues for the actors is this performance of the play is multilingual and one actor is deaf and uses sign language. We also see many interactions between Yūsuke and Kōji, the lead actor for ”Uncle Vanya”, and the man Oto slept with two years earlier. There is a subtle tension, especially in the dialogue between Yuksuke and Koji.
Additionally, we see the emotional connection between Yūsuke and his driver, Misaki. A main theme coursing throughout this film is regret and being honest with your emotions. The scenes of Yūsuke getting driven around and the heavy dialogues, in a sense, are therapeutic for Yūsuke. We also learn more about Misaki’s home life, how she learns to drive and how she looks at life.
One element of the film I enjoyed watching was the tracking shots of Japan – long shots of tunnels, factories, beautiful scenery, and Japanese architecture. The musical elements also fit well. This is the first live-action Japanese film I have seen and, other than the long runtime, at some point you get invested in the story.
The first half hour is especially great, but the rest of “Drive My Car” is also worth the emotional investment. Overall, it has stunning cinematography, great performances, and a fascinating story.
Shawn Belden can be contacted at
sbelden@kscequinox.com
